Iran FM says talks with ‘insincere’ US impossible due to its ‘erratic’ policies

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says the Islamic Republic cannot trust the US to sit with it again in any possible negotiations as Washington has been pursuing “erratic policies” in dealing with Tehran.

Zarif made the remarks on Wednesday after a cabinet session, in response to a question about a recent call by US President Donald Trump for direct talks with Iran.

“The Americans have never acted with sincerity, and Trump’s move and remarks were merely a publicity stunt. The main reason behind this is that Trump does not care about either the Iranian people or international obligations,” he told reporters.

Zarif said the US president has taken a hostile approach towards the Iranian nation as he first re-imposed those sanctions that targeted activities such as plane purchases.

The top Iranian diplomat said the Americans need to be answerable to the Iranian people in numerous cases, adding that given the deep distrust the US has caused over the past decades, how the Iranians can find a reason to talk to them.

“If there is the issue of negotiations, we had two years of intensive negotiations with the Americans and the JCPOA (the Iran nuclear agreement) was the result of these talks, but the Trump administration withdrew from it. Imagine the unlikely option of negotiating now, how can the US be trusted that after reaching an agreement they will remain committed to their very own agreement?” he said.

The US president said on July 30 that he is ready to meet his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani, “any time they want to.”

“It’s good for the country, good for them, good for us and good for the world. No preconditions. If they want to meet, I’ll meet,” Trump said.

Trump’s offer of talks came nearly two months after he pulled the US out of the Iran nuclear agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, and said that he plans to reinstate US nuclear sanctions on Iran and impose “the highest level” of economic bans on the Islamic Republic.

On Monday, Trump signed an executive order re-imposing sanctions on Iran to levy “maximum economic pressure” on the Islamic Republic.

Zarif said in his Wednesday remarks that the world was taking Iran’s side in the face of US acts.

In the past, other countries implemented US bans that were endorsed by several UN Security Council resolutions, but now the world has been standing up to the US sanctions, Zarif said, citing an update of the Blocking Statute by the EU to protect the bloc’s companies doing legitimate business with Iran from the impact of US extraterritorial sanctions.

“An international consensus against the US move has been shaped,” he noted.

“The world today is not willing to implement the US sanctions and several countries, including key ones, are striving to counter the sanctions and our economic sector will be active in this regard too,” he added.

Zarif’s remarks echoed those by President Hassan Rouhani who said on Monday that he US administration was no more able to prove its trustworthiness for any negotiations after its withdrawal from the JCPOA and a number of other international treaties.